Billy Clarke made a good impression at The Valley when he joined the club from Bradford City last season.

An intelligent player, he was the creative spark up front. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury in December and has been sidelined ever since.

Clarke is set to rejoin the first team for training in the next‎ week or two, and will then need a few Under-23 games to regain match sharpness.

It has been a long, hard road back for Clarke, so he can empathise with Jake Forster-Caskey, who suffered a similar injury two days before the season opener at Sunderland in August.

‎Clarke offered these words of encouragement to his stricken colleague:

‎”I’m there for Jake all of the time, I told him from day one when he suffered the injury that I’d be there for him if he ever wanted to speak to me.

“I got over my first one (ACL injury) and I’m nearly over my second one and I’ll be there to support him with whatever he wants me to do.

“If he wants to ask me questions or speak about if he’s feeling down on this day or that day then I’ll happily sit down with him.

“Jake will need support – just like I did – and when that support comes from someone who has been through the same thing then it can make it a bit easier for him.

‎Clarke is now set for another battle; regaining match full match fitness and forcing his way back into the team.

But Clarke is looking forward to the challenge and said this:

“Well, we will see how good I am when I get back! Everyone has worked their socks off with me.

“We have had arguments, down and dark days, happy days, all sorts. There has been a whole spectrum of emotions and they (the medical staff) have been side-by-side with me all the way.

“I’m grateful to them for that and hopefully they can use me as a blueprint for Jake, who has obviously just had the operation.

“We’re all thinking about him and hopefully he can have a successful recovery.”